Machine for folding paper



L. E. OSBORN.Y

2 Sheets-Sheet lf Paper Folding,IVlaichrnI y fau.

Patented May 13, l186.2.

ffwenn/ L. E.' osBoRN.

Paper Foldingmahm- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 No. 35,249. y l Patented .May '13, 1862.

i' UNITED STATES 'PATENT Erice. u

LEWIS OSBORN, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING PAPER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,249, dated May 13, 1862.

To a-ZZ whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that l, Lnwrs E. OsBoRN, of

p New Haven, in the county of New Haven and same, taken in the line z e, Fig. l;A Fig. 4, a

section of a portion of the same, taken in the line cc' Fig." 3; Fig. 5, a section of Fig. 4, takenin the line z z.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspending parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a machine which will be capable of being applied directly to a printing-press and operated automatically therefrom and receive the 4 printed sheets from the press and discharge them in a folded state, the sheets being folded one or more times-that is to say, in folio, quarto, octavo form, rbc., as may be desired.

Theinvention is more especially designed" for the folding of newspapersfor mailing, but may be advantageously used for folding other printed sheets.

` The in-vention consists in the employment or use of one or more pairs of rollers provided with. fingers or` nippers and conveying-tapes in connection with adjustable holding-tapes and one or more feeders fitted in the fly and in a feeding frame or frames, all

arranged substantially as hereinafter fullyA shown and described. i i

fTo cnable those skilled in the art'to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a rectangular. frame, which may be constructed inv any proper way to support the working parts of the machine, and B is a fly of a printing-press, which is iitted at its lower end in bearings a at one side of the upper `part of the frame A, the fly being allowed to work freely in its bearings. The fly may be constructed of longitudinal slats b, placed at equal distances apart and secured in proper position by traverse bars c, the lower ends of the slats Z9 beingsecured to a shaft, d, the journals of 'which are fitted in the bearings a. This fly, although attached to the frame A, has thek same relative position with the press and operates in the usual way so far as receiving and discharging the sheets of paper from the press is considered, and it throws the printed sheets down upon the top of the frame A. The ily is operated or thrown down on the frame-A by means of a toothed segment, B,which gears into a pinion, C, at one end of the shaft d, the segment B being at the upper end of a bent lever, D, the fulcrum c of which is at the angle of the lever. The lever D is operated by means of a cam, E, on the driving-shaft F of the machine. The upward movement of the fly is produced by a spring, F, which is attached to a slide, G, on the upper s urface of the iiy. This slide G may be described as being a narrow metal frame having the spring F attached to its upper or outer end'and to the upper or outer end of the iiy, and having its inner end attached to a cord, G', which passes over a roller, c, at the lower or inner end of the tly, and is attached to the frame A. The outer or upper end of the slide G is fitted in an oblique slot, f, which is made in a-bar, I-I, placed longitudinally 4in a slot, g, in a bar, h, at the center of the ily, and the slide G is also provided with a cross-bar, e', which is fitted in an oblique slot, j, in the bar H, the two oblique slots fj being parallel with each other, as shown in Fig. l. Then the iiy B is thrown down on the frame A, the slide G is moved or actuated in consequence of its being attached to the cord G', and the spring F is' stretched or distended by this movement of the slide and the bar H forced down or throughA the slot g inthe bar h of the fly. When the lever D is relieved of the action of the cam E, the spring F will throw the fly B upward and the slide G shove the bar H out from the slot g of bar h. The frame A is provided with a'platform or top, I, in which a slot, k, isv made, to allow the lower or inner edge of bar H to pass through when forced through the slot g of bar h.

J J represent two parallel rollers, which are placed in the upper part of the frame A justbelow the platform I and at right angles with the shaft d of the fly B. The bite of the rollers J J is in line with the bar Il of the [ly and the slot k of the platform I of the frame A, and the rollers are conn ected at one end by gears Z Z. The roller J has endless tapes m passing around it, said tapes passing underneath theroller J and around a roller, K, at one side of the frame A, as shown in Figs. 2 and The roller J has two endless tapes, n n, passing' around it, one near each en d. These tapes ny a also pass around pulleys o o at the ends of levers L L, which are at the side of the frame A directly above the roller K. The inner ends of the levers L L are connected to a cord, M which extends downto the lower part of the frame A and is connected to a lever, N, which is acted upon by a cam, O, at the inner side of a toothed wheel, P, on the drivingshaft F. The lever N has a spring, p, attached to it, which has a tendency to keep theouter ends of the levers L L, and consequently the pulleys o o, elevated, so that the tapes laa will be some distance above the outermost tapes, 'In m, which pass around the roller J near its ends.

The rollers J J are each provided with two fingers, Q Q. The fingers of each roller are litted on a shaft, R, and these shafts are placed in therollers J J and are encompassed by spiral springs q, (see Fig. 5,) which have a tendency to keep the ends of the fingers Q Q of the two rollers in contact, as shown in Fig. 4. The shafts It R are provided atene end with a projection, o', which projections are at right angles with their shafts, as shown in Fig. Each roller J J is provided at one end with a small lever, T, having a roller, s, on its outer end and a catch, f, at its inner end. These levers T have springsunderneath their outerl ends, which springs have a tendency to keep the catches 't t in contact with Yor toward the surfaces of the rollers. To the rollers J J there are also attached stationary bearings u u, one to each roller and in line with the catches t f, as shown in Fig.

On the driving-shaft F there is placed a cam, U, which acts against a roller, fr, attached to a lever, Y, having its fulcrum at 1U. The back or outer end of the lever Y is attached to a lever,\Y, which hasits fulcrum at a and is in line with the rollers s s ofthe levers T.

X X represent two rods or bars, which are placed in the frame A directly7 underneath the rollers J J and at right angles with them; and Y Y are two rollers, which are placed in the frame A underneath the rods or bars X X and parallel with them, and consequently at right angles with the upper rollers, J J. The rollers Y Y are provided with lingers Z Z, which are arranged precisely like the fingers Q of the rollers J J', and are operated in the same way, hereinafter deseribed*to wit, by m'eans ot' spring-shafts D', catches c', a lever, d', and a cam, e. (See Figs. l and 2.) The rollers Y Y are also provided with a supplemental fly, A', orV feeding-frame, which is attached to the frame A by joints or hinges f and is operated by a spring, g', and a cam, h,

attached to the side of the cam E on the driving-shaft F. The supplemental fly or feeding frame A' is simply a rectangular frame prfvided at its frontend with a cross strip or bal', 1f', which works in line with the bite of the rollers Y Y. (See Figs. 2 and The spring g has a tendency to keep the lly or feedingframe A elevated, while the cam E at the proper time forces it down.

The operation is as follows: The shaft F is rotated from any proper working part of the press to which the machine is attached, and the rollers J J are rotated in consequence of the toothed wheel P gearing into one of the wheels Z', which connect the rollers Y, and the rollers J J are rotated from the rollers Y by means of gearing and shaftingm j. (See more particularly Fig. The fly B receives the printed sheets from the press one at a time, and as each sheet is received by the fly B the latter is forced down on the top I of the frame A bythe action of the toothed segment B and pinion C, and as said fly is forced down the bar H, as previously described, is forced through the slatted bar h of the fly B and the center of the printed sheet is forced into the bite of the rollers J J This operation folds the sheet once in folio form, and the sheet thus folded is conveyed by the tapes ym n over the rollers Y Y, where it is again folded by the lat-ter rollers, the supplemental lly or feeding-frame A being forced down, so that its strip t" will force the center of the folio between the bite of the rollers Y Y, the lingers Z Z catching it. The sheet may thus be folded any desired number of times, a pair of rollers of course being required for each fold. The tapes a n serve to keep the folded sheet in proper position on the tapes m by pressing on Aits edges, and ust previous to the descent of the supplemental fly or feedingframe A said tapes o are elevated in consequence of the cam O releasing the lever N, and thereby allowingits spring' p to act upon the lever and draw down the inner ends ot' the levers L L and pulleys 0, the cam O at the proper' time releasing' the lever N, so that the outer ends of the levers L and pulleys 0 may fall to allow the tapes a to press on the edges of the succeeding sheet.

The fingers Q Q of the rollers J J as they pass between or through the bite of the rollers are forced back Hush with the peripheries of the rollers, and are retained in that position during several revolutions of the rollers in consequence of the catches t t engaging with the project-ions r of the shafts R R, and as the lingers approach each other at the tops of the rollers the projections r are freed from the catches in consequence of the lever IV, when elevated by the cam U, causing the rollers s s of the levers T to come in contact with it, and thus actuating said levers and raising the catches t.

I do not claim, broadly, the employment or use of rollers for folding papers but,

Having thus described my invention, what J J, feeding-frame A', and rollers Y Y, all arranged for joint operation, as and for the,

purpose herein set forth.

2. The 'automatically-adjustable tapes n n, when used in connection with the sheet-oon- Veying tapes m, and operated substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3.' Operating the fingers Q Q of the rollers J J through the medium of the springs q on the shafts R R, the projections o". on said shafts,the catches t on the levers T, and the `lever W, actuated, as shown, to operate on levers T, and these parts applied to all the lingers of any number of pairs of folding'- rollers that may be employed in the machine.

4LElVIS E. OSBORN.

fitnessesz ELI WALTER OsBoRN, WALTER OsBoRN. 

